Wang Shu

Architect

• Born: November 4, 1963
• Birthplace: Urumqi, Xinjiang, China
• Died: 1508

Education: Nan Nanjing Institute of Technology

Significance: Wang Shu is credited with designing structures that take into consideration the environment and community in which they are to be built. His work is inspired by Chinese history and tradition. It stands in stark contrast to much of the modern construction in China, with traditional touches, such as courtyards. Wang has rejected the disposable approach to building by reclaiming materials to preserve the heritage of the site in the new structure.

Background

Wang Shu was born in the western Chinese city of Urumqi in 1963. The family soon moved to Beijing, in a crowded, narrow street. As a toddler, he drew constantly, including on walls. When he was six, the family returned to Urumqi, only to move back to Beijing about five years later. During his absence, he said, the neighbors refused to scrub away or cover his drawings, and they were still on the walls when he returned.

He studied architecture at the Nan Nanjing Institute of Technology, earning his bachelor's degree in 1985 and his master's degree in 1988. He was unhappy with the approach to architecture that was being taught, however, and spent much of his time renovating old buildings to address the housing shortage caused by a massive influx of people moving from farms to the cities.

The first of Wang's designs to be constructed was a youth center in Haining that was completed in 1990. He was opposed to the government's approach to solving the housing shortage, which was to demolish buildings and replace them with new, impersonal structures. Instead of working to replace the history of the city, he wanted to pay homage to the past. He gained insight into traditional construction skills while working on building sites for nearly a decade. He also found time to study anthropology, art history, movies, and philosophy.

Life's Work

In 1997, Wang and his wife, Lu Wenyu, founded Amateur Architecture Studio in Hangzhou. When he returned to designing after his extended study of building methods, he began to incorporate these techniques into his designs. He has compared his approach to design to that of a traditional Chinese painter. After accepting a commission, he studies the surroundings, both near and far: the city itself and the mountains beyond. He mulls ideas for about a week, not putting anything on paper, and then he finally begins to draw.

Wang frequently incorporates salvaged materials in his structures to keep the past alive. The Xiangshan campus of the China Academy of Art, for example, was constructed using more than two million tiles salvaged from demolished homes. He used rubble from demolished buildings in the Ningbo Historic Museum, which is a rammed earth wall construction. Observers noted that in his structures, he incorporates the remains of former buildings, which would otherwise be discarded, as a means of preserving their spirit and history as new buildings arose. Clay tiles, which are generally manufactured locally using native clay, are among Wang's preferred salvaged materials. The clay tiles are common building materials in China, so they evoke traditional construction across the country. Wang and Lu deliberately select materials that are organic, as a reaction to the often sterile modernity of new construction.

Wang has a distinct approach to architecture. His traditional approach and attention to natural materials, in particular salvaged materials, is a rejection of the speed with which new buildings are changing the face of China. His structures, which are meant for human habitation and use, incorporate elements of nature, making a place for both humankind and the natural world. Wang creates texture by layering materials. Many of his structures are cloaked in stacks of tiles of varying size and shape, similar to the traditional wa pian qiang, or clay-tile wall. In many cases, the tiles in a structure were reclaimed from villages that previously occupied the site. The variation in the tiles encourages a viewer to notice areas of uniformity within the larger structure. The density of the tiles and stones also lends weight to the building. The exterior of the Ningbo History Museum, for example, resembles a Chinese fortress that might have stood in the city centuries ago.

He has participated in many exhibitions around the world, including in Beijing, Brussels, and Paris. The Amateur Architecture Studio, of which Wang remained the principal architect, exhibited at the 2010 Venice Architecture Biennial with Decay of a Dome. This display featured a structure that could be quickly constructed or broken down with ease. For the 2006 Venice Architecture Biennale, the studio created an installation called Tiled Garden. It included 66,000 tiles salvaged from building sites, laid out in a large grid. Visitors accessed bamboo bridges to travel through the installation. The work was a statement about widespread urban demolition projects. Wang created a similar effect in the Wa Shan Guesthouse. Pedestrians access the undulating tile roof, which reflects the landscape, via bamboo pedestrian bridges. In this way, the architect features the natural clay tiles in a manner that visitors would normally never see.

Wang has been recognized with a number of honors and awards, including inclusion in Time magazine's list of the one hundred most influential people in 2013. He also received the 2003 Architecture Art Award of China for the Wenzheng Library, the 2010 Schelling Architecture Prize (shared with Lu), and the Gold Medal of Architecture from the l'Academie d'Architecture of France in 2011. In 2012, he became the first Chinese citizen to be awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize, which is the most prestigious award in architecture.

In addition to designing, Wang also became a teacher later in his career. He was a professor at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, and head of the architecture school. He became the first Chinese Kenzo Tange visiting professor at Harvard Graduate School of Design in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 2011.

Impact

The Pritzker Architecture Prize committee, which described Wang's work as timeless, cited the architect's ability to harmoniously unify the past and the future. Wang's success outside of his homeland is regarded as a big step for a Chinese architect and an opportunity to exhibit other Chinese designs on the world stage. Commentators have lauded his use of reclaimed materials to bring the past and present together.

Personal Life

Wang is married to Lu Wenyu. They are the parents of a son. Wang and Lu, who are the only partners of their firm, collaborate on designs. Lu has stated she prefers to avoid the spotlight, however.

Bibliography

"Biography." Pritzker Architecture Prize, 2012, www.pritzkerprize.com/2012/biography. Accessed 27 Sept. 2017.

"Chinese Architect Wang Shu Wins the Pritzker Prize." NPR, 27 Feb. 2012, www.npr.org/2012/02/27/147507905/chinese-architect-wang-shu-wins-the-pritzker-prize. Accessed 27 Sept. 2017.

Lam, Sharon. "Spotlight: Wang Shu." Arch Daily, 4 Nov. 2016, www.archdaily.com/798567/spotlight-wang-shu. Accessed 27 Sept. 2017.

Ramzy, Austin. "Wang Shu, Architect, 49." Time, 18 Apr. 2013, time100.time.com/2013/04/18/time-100/slide/wang-shu/. Accessed 27 Sept. 2017.

Rawn, Evan. "Material Masters: The Traditional Tiles of Wang Shu & Lu Wenyu." Arch Daily, 3 June 2015, www.archdaily.com/638948/material-masters-amateur-architecture-studio-s-work-with-tile. Accessed 27 Sept. 2017.

Wang, Shu. "China's Wang Shu: From Builder to Pritzker-Winning Architect." CNN, 13 Jan. 2016, www.cnn.com/style/article/asia/wang-shu-human-to-hero-architect/index.html. Accessed 27 Sept. 2017.

Wang, Shu. Wang Shu Amateur Architecture Studio. Lars Müller Publishers, 2017.

Wang, Shu. Wang Shu: Imagining the House. Lars Müller Publishers, 2012.